afterwards
by cellblockalice
Summary: College student, independent, smart, struggling but happy, Sarah is finally beginning to try and forget about her childhood memories when she's pulled back in, and not by Jareth, but the labyrinth. Drastically different then before with more then just goblins, but more magical and beautiful creatures then she could have imagined. Seeking refuge from an unknowing king might be easy.


_It was dying, it knew that much. Why, had yet to be understood. Relying solely on instinct rather than thought or word, It was in some sort, very similar to the organic, leafy, organisms living within its barriers. Consuming and releasing, effected and effecting, but never mentally taking part in the world outside. However, it did have the ability to understand. It had been created, it knew, for the sole purpose of confusion for the runners, the runners that were sent into its chasms and never ending passages. It had been slow, in a state of comatos; rarely did it pay attention to the outside world. Coming out of its dormant state only to prepare for a new contestant, and barely even then. Perpetually in a never ending circle of predictable action and reaction._

_One day had been different. This runner wasn't the same as the others. She aroused something, caused it to wake up. She had been the only one to defeat it. It had sensed a change in its master after the runner had left. Now, it sensed something was missing, something key to its survival. It needed its champion, it was coming apart at the seams, its magic energy, once flowing with life and warmth, trickled and slowed with every passing day. Walls were crumbling; the forests and creatures were withering away. It needed her badly, it needed to heal, and so did its master. It would bring her back. And this time, it would make sure, she would stay. _

The alarm. It was going off. A loud, irritating beep admitting from the small, black clock on her bedside table. She groaned, lifting her arm and blindly moving it about, trying to find the annoying device and shut it off. She was sure it was getting louder. With a sigh of frustration she opened her eyes. Sun hit her square in the face, blinding her and forcing her to close her to turn away. She squinted, just enough to see, and hit the alarm clock off the table, creating a satisfying cracking sound and the beeping stopped. She sighed, that probably wasn't the best idea, she was going to regret that tomorrow, when she failed to wake up on time. Stretching, she slipped off the bed and headed to the shower grabbing a towel and washcloth as she went. Six A.M. Monday morning, just lovely. She turned the water on and let the hot liquid pour down her back as she washed her hair. Scrubbing her scalp and massaging shampoo into the skin. It was short, her hair. Coming just to her shoulders in little, dark brown waves. She found it much easier to manage.

Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body. Walking to the mirror she ran her hand over the foggy surface and looked at her reflection. She looked tired, she supposed college did that. She had hoped she would be used to it by now; after all it was her third year. But the late night study sessions were getting to her. She needed a break. Maybe she would take a little three day weekend and visit her family sometime soon, she hadn't been home in a while and she missed them terribly. Especially Toby.

Opening the door to her room, she went over to the closet, grapping a pair leggings and a soft, baggy, long sleeved shirt. Loose and faded from ware, it was the most comfortable piece of clothing she owned; it was, for this reason, her favorite. Slipping on the clothes, she proceeded to make her bed. Seeing as how, at the moment, she was the only resident of the two sided duplex house, she tried to keep things clean. Her last roommate had been incredibly messy, and though she was truly sad to see her go, she didn't miss the constant feeling of wanting to take a shower every time she walked into the room. Yes, this was much better. She had always been one for organization. Her neighbors, an elderly couple who often went to visit their children for weeks at a time, were hardly ever home.

Her house was small, with two bedrooms, one on each side of the hallway. From there one would walk into a small but cozy living room. A wall with a small doorway that led to the kitchen, nothing fancy, but she liked it. It was small and quant, and quiet. She liked it that way.

Her teapot whistled and she hurried over to the kitchen, she quickly turned off the stove. Hot steam rushed out as she poured the burning liquid into a cup, placing a tea bag and bobbing it up and down by the string. The water turned foggy and then colored the familiar clear caramel she saw nearly every morning. Blowing on her cup, she walked over to her window, it was snowing again. It wasn't as if she didn't like the snow, it was the exact opposite. However, on days she had to drive thirty minutes to get to school on a good day, snow was the last thing she needed. She sighed, there was no helping it. Going to the closet and grabbing a coat, hat, and scarf, she swiped a bagel off the counter and finished off her tea. She would need to leave early.

Stepping out of the door, she looked around. It was a solitary area, where she lived, surrounded on each side by large, dark pines. Their branches and needles obscuring any chance of seeing farther into the forest, fanning out and covered in moss, she was always engulfed in a constant sea of green. Even now, with the landscape covered in snow, the dark color peeked out from under the white, and at the moment she thought it one of the most beautiful pictures she had ever seen. Such contrast, the snow against the moss.

The sky was ashen, a dark grey. Heavy clouds letting loose a flurry of snowflakes. They looked swollen, he thought, too big, too white, to be coming from those black clouds up ahead. They floated down, silent, looking so innocent, each one formed by tens of tiny, perfect patterns of ice. But their touch was harsh and biting. Each time it touched his skin it sent shivers down his body and created an ache that ran far deeper than the bone.

It was night. He walked through the trees, their bark, devoid of color, their branches bar and skeletal. Reaching out and over like skinless fingers, twisted and crooked. The trees were thick and dense and the snow gathered and stayed, forming a rooftop of snow above him, a cathedral. This was harder than he had ever thought it would be. He looked up, _have I done right? _He wondered. Of all the things he had ever made the decision to do, this had been the hardest, leaving his people. He pulled his hood down lower over his face, shielding him from the harsh wind. His cloak was thick but, as it appeared, the snow was thicker. Moister soaked through his boots and left his feet numb and freezing. Water melted into his clothes and drenched his skin. Of all the things he thought he wouldn't be prepared for, this was the last he would ever have expected. The cold. There was only so much his powers could do, and that much was limited when he was already suffering from exhaustion. With each labored breath he took, he could see a thick cloud of white. It had been so long since he had been home, so long since he had seen his kingdom. But he couldn't go back. He needed to fix something that had been broken, heal something that needed to be healed, and he couldn't do it back home. No, this was where he needed to be. He heard footsteps behind him and as he turned, a voice spoke. "What a surprise, of all beings, I never expected to see you hear, Jareth , the Goblin King."


End file.
